Portable automatic door-lock and burglar-alarm



S. RITCHIE. PORTABLE AUTOMATICIDOOR LOCK AND BURGLAR'ALARM.

APPLICATION FILEDAJAN. a, 192p.

Pa'fiented July 13, 1929.

not displace it. 25

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE,

SAMUEL RITCHIE, or LADYSMITH, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD To STANLEY L. oHIoKnR, OFVVLADYSMITH,WISCONSIN.

PORTABLE AUTOMATIC DOOR-LOCK ,AND BURGLAR-ALARM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented [11y 13, 1920.

Application filed January 3, 19.20. serial No. 349,171.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAM EL Rironrn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Ladysmith, in the county of Rusk and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Automatic Door-Locks and Burglar Alarms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention refers particularly to portable locks and it has for its object to provide a simple, economical andeffective lock embodying means in Connection therewith for giving an audible signal should an attempt be'made to force the door or other member which is'locked, whereby the occupant ofthe room is warned that an attempt is being made to enter.

Other objects of my invention are to provide a/lock of this character which may be inserted against the floor and door member and there, held firmly in place insuch manner that pressure from the oppositeside can- Another object is to provide an audible signal or burglar alarm associated with the lock mechanism so set and'arrange'd that when an attempt is made to force the door, the alarm mechanism will automatically release and fire a blank cartridge.

Another object is to provide means in con nection with the audiblealarm for locking it or throwing it out of action when itis not desired for use. v

Another advantage and object of this invention is to provide a simple lock of the friction grip character which can be readily removed and carried from place to place for use, such, for example, in hotels where the ordinary standard locks are more or less out of order and furthermore this portable lock can readily be displaced thus avoiding the possibility of danger to the parties occupying a room from being locked in in case of the standard lock becoming out of order or in caseof emergency where it is desired to unlock the door quickly as, for instance, in tires or where quick exits are necessary."

My lock is furthermore of such dimensions that it can readily be carried from place to place. 7 v y With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts as are hereinafter set forth with reference to .the accompanying drawings and subsequently claimed. I g

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a portion of a floor and door having a lock made in accordance with my invention attached .theretoand particularly showing the simplearrangement of connecting it. v y 7 2 represents a somewhat enlarged plan view of the door lock, and

Fig. 3 a detailed longitudinal sectional parts broken away and other parts in full struction. v 1

Referring by characters to the drawings,

1 represents a barrel having fixed therein at itslower end'a three-,pronged locking claw 2, the same being rigidly secured tothe barrel. Mounted in the upper open end of the barrelis a second locking claw 3 having a hollow shank 4 which is adapted to recipro- 'cate within the barrel but is held against rotary movement by a screw-pin 5, which pin passes through the barrel and slots 5- that are formed in the hollow shank thereof.

The barrel or body' 1 is also formed with view through the various parts with certain a cylindrical chamber 6 which extends from the upper portion of the body to a point some'distance from the'lower portion ofthe.

barrel proper. The upper portion of this chamber 6,is provided with a cap 6 that is held in place by a pin 7, as shown, or other suitable means. Mounted in the chamber is a firing spring 8, the same being'under com pression between the cap 6 and a firlng I plunger'9, which plunger carries a handcontrolling button 10 that projects through v a longitudinally disposed guide-slot" j11.- 1

formedin onewall of the chamber. Adjacent to its lower end, the guide-slotis formed with a right-angular extension 12 which constitutes a safety locking pocket for the'shank of the button and the upper end of the slot is also provided with a simi lar locking pocket 13, which pocket is adapted to set the plunger in opposition to its spring pressure for firing. .This operation is effected by simply pushing the plunger upward and swinging the' butto'n to one side in such manner that its'shank willseat within the pocket 13" of the slot and hold the I plunger ready for firing. The plunger is tripped from itslockedfiring position by a finger l h Qh Jam-finger extends downwardly from the upper or yielding locking claw 3 and obviously when the looking claw yields beyond a certain predetermined point the cam M will engage the shank of the plunger button: and thus cause the same to be forced out of engagement with the pocket 13, whereby the spring will act to cause said plunger to shoot down- 'form and provided with a series ofvent perforations 18 below its cartridge-receiving point and the lower end of said magazine is closed to prevent danger from the discharge therethrough of a wad from the cartridge or to prevent burning or soot'ing of the floor. The upper end of the magazine is formed with a reduced cartridge-receiving pocket 19.

When it is desired to load the magazine it can be swung downwardly to a position approximately at a right-angle with the body of the lock whereby access may be conveniently had to the loading. pocket and the shell is then inserted therein. The magazine is then swung upwardly until it is in approximate alinement with the center of the firing chamber, as shown, and this position of alinement is insured by the upper portion of themagazine coming in contact with a semi-circular lip 20 which projects from the lower portion of the chamber 6. Thus it will be seen that when the parts are ,in this position the lock is ready for use.

As best shown-in 1 of the drawings, to position the lock for use, the lower prongs thereofiare set firmly into the floor at a predetermined distance from the door to be locked and the upper yielding claw is pressed into the door slightly, as shown, the spring permitting a normal slight tension so that the sharp prongs of the upper and lower claws are positively held against slippage and, in this position, the controlling button of the firing plunger is in uXtaposition to the cam. Should anyone at this time attempt to force the door from the opposite side, the upper prong will yield underabnormal pressure, tending to force the door inwardly and in so yielding, the cam will engage the plunger button, thus forcing it to rotate slightly, whereby it is'forced from the upper lockingwpocket 13 and immediately the spring causes it to shoot downwardlyand explode and thefiring pin will thus discharge the cartridge so as to give an audible alarm. and warn the occupant of cylinder, v a 7 e .7 or o In testimony that 1 claim the foregoing I p the room against burglars or others at tempting to force the door open. Should it be desirable in some instances to temporarily dispense with the functioning of the audible alarm, it is only necessary for the operator to lock the plunger button in the lower pocket 12, such locking position being a sufficient distance from the tripping cam 14 to prevent the latter from releasing the plunger. Thus, although the audible alarm magazine is loaded, there will be no signal incase an attempt is made to force the lock.

Attention is also directed to the fact that the spring controlling the upper claw is of such resistance that when pressure is ap plied to the outside of the door, the spring will only yield slightly, if any at all, and will thus tend to embed the claws more firmly into their respective engagement with the floor and door to thus hold said door securely.

While I have shown and described the portable lock minutely with respect to all of its details, obviously these structural features may be varied within the knowledge of the skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit of my invention and it is understood that the lock may be of any desired size and material and alsothat the parts may be cast or stamped, which fea and closed end of the hollow barrel structure, constituting a yieldable lock; the combination of a firing 1.)lug' cylinderarranged parallel with the hollow barrel and secured thereto, the cylinder being provided with a longitudinal slot having a firing pocket at one end and a safety pocket at the other, a spring-controlled firing plug reciprocatively mounted in the cylinder, a button extending from the firing plug through the cylinder slot and adapted to be selectively fitted in the firing pocket thereof or the safety f pocket, a cam finger carried by the telescopic claw shank and extending in a line of travel for engagement with the button, when the same is in the firing pocket of the cylinder slot, and a cartridge magazine mounted in thelower end of the firing plug have hereunto set my hand at Ladysmith, in the'county of Rusk and State ofWiscousin,

1 SAMUEL RITCHIE. g 

